Karl D. Gregory is an American economist who is professor emeritus of economics at Oakland University in Michigan,[1] and was an early president of the National Economic Association.
[2] In 1962, he was refused the opportunity to purchase a home in developer William Levitt's Belair subdivision of Bowie, Maryland, based on his race, sparking extensive protests which contributed to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
[3] Gregory was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan.
[5] Gregory worked in the Bureau of the Budget (now the Office of Management and Budget) in Washington, D.C., in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations while volunteering as chair of the Congress of Racial Equality.
[6][4] He then joined the faculty of Oakland University, where he taught for 27 years.